Lord Mayor's Show

First apologies for taking so long to post. Its been a while, but to make up for it I have some great photos from the Lord Mayor's Show. Its not obvious but what most people consider "London" is in fact under the jurisdiction of the Greater Metropolitan Authority, a fairly recent construction. The actual city of London proper, based on the ancient Roman city of Londinum is much smaller, essentially comprising most of the financial district of London and with only around 10,000 permanent citizens. If you're in London you can see the the boundry to the city as it is marked by the Dragon holding the Corporation's Shield. Every year the city aldermen, members of the ancient guilds elect a Lord Mayor who then processes down to Westminister where he swears allegiance to the crown and then returns to the city. The procession is comprised of the Guilds, Military Orders, Marching Bands and other invited participants.

This Link is to a short impromptu video I took of the Lord's ceremonial guard, the Honorable Company of Musketeers and Pikemen.

http://youtu.be/TOFy3Ih8GO8

Crossness Pumping Station

The Crossness Pumping Station is according to the volunteers I talked with there the most ornately decorated surviving Victorian Public Works Building in existence.

Kew Gardens and Canterbury Cathedral

So I have a double feature for you this week- Kew Gardens and Canterbury Cathedral (with a construction interlude)
The Gardens are amazing just for the sheer number of plants it has, but a few stand out)

One of the Famous Giant Water Lillies at Kew Gardens. This is the underside of one of the pads. This particular one measured about 3 ft across.

The Gardens are also famous for the Victorian Era Glass Houses. Towering structures of ornately styled Iron and glass, they are impressive in their own right. Thin beams of worn and peeling Iron Criss-Cross the pains of glass, creating the impression of fragile, beautiful and aged structure with-holding plants that could easily outlast it. It's an amazing contrast- the bright green rolling sea of plants, against the stiff framework of the House.

There is construction everywhere in London in preparation for the Olympics- underground, above ground and in the sky. It seems as though almost every corner and by-way is being worked on in some fashion.

The Choir stalls at the Canterbury Cathedral

Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. That much is agreed upon. How and why it happened is contested to this day as I found out. It's amazing how important minor details can be in history. The guides and literature at the Cathedral seemed to suggest that King Henry the II ordered Thomas to be killed, which happened was while in prayer at the Cathedral. Going down the road a bit to the castle of Dover, the guide there hotly contested this version, instead proposing that the act was carried out by the Kings thugs without his direct order. This seeming tiny distinction in fact drastically changes the character of the King, and maybe this is why it is still a contested matter.

Pearlies

Thames Barrier

1st Batch

First Days First

Some of the "freshers" asked me what its like studying abroad- I told them its like having a "first day" experience most of the time.

The first day being the first day of school, a new job, etc. and the feelings that come with it- the anxiety of the unknown colluded with the exhilaration of discovery.

I hope to post some pics once we get into orientation a bit more.

Thanks,

Chris 

Hello World!

So here I go again.

Shaking off the summer. Ready to hit the road.

I am going to study abroad this fall 2011 semester at Kings College in London. My goal is to use this blog to share with you my best images from this experience.

As before, I hope to post images and just a little bit of explanatory text- brief and to the point. Please check back- I will try to post every week.

Thanks for stopping by-
Chris